Fathers-in-law top TOTS' April batting stats

Tucson Old Timers (TOTS)

60-and-over baseball

Okay so I'm going to invent a new term.

Fathers-in-law.

The truth is the Tolson-Opocensky clan, Tim on the left in photo, and Joe on the right, are Grandpas in the same family. There are enough family members between the two ballplayers to create a couple of ball teams.

Luckily, the 60-and-over Tucson Old Timers are honored to have Tim and Joe, both hard-hitting left handers, as members of the organization -- Tim since 2012 and Joe since 2014.

Tim, is a Tucson boy and his dad, Brad, played for the TOTS from 1992-2012, while Joe hails from Virginia. Tim turns 70 in August/2022 and Joe turned 72 last February.

The two lefties are generally at the top, or near the top, of the monthly batting stat sheets, but in April of this year, the two were on fire at the plate.

Tim went 20 for 47 in 13 games, a .426 batting average, while Joe played in 11 games and went 19 for 39, a .487 average. Both players scored 12 runs with Joe getting the nod in RBI, 11-9.

Ernesto "Doc" Escala (photo below), who retired last month after many, many years as a dentist, has made his presence known as a full-time player and is taking a bite out of the TOTS' batters as well as he is letting it be known that he is en route to becoming one of the power hitters on the club.

 Escala led all pitchers during the month of April with a 4-1 record and the hard-hitting right-hander went 14 for 33 in 12 games, a .424 batting average. Escala led the TOTS with 13 RBI.

Other top hitters for the month of April included Jesse Ochoa, who went 17 for 35, a .486 average; Bob Daliege, who went 14 for 36, a .389 average; Mike Steele, who went 13 for 26, a .500 average, and Ken Nebesny, who went 13 for 34, a .382 average.

Newcomer Phil Ahern, the latest addition to the TOTS, went 16 for 29 in eight games, a .552 average, while the steady John Mathews went 12 for 29, a .414 average and tied for second in RBI with 11. Another newcomer, John Cooke, went 11 for 24, a .458 average.

Also finishing with a dozen hits for the month include Dennis Crowley (12 for 28), Mark Rupert (12 for 43) and Mike Dawson (12 for 24).

For the over-75 players, the trio of Dick Ducklow, Arnie White and Danny "Pigpen" Price battled it out for the most hits for the month. Ducklow went 6 for 27, Price went 6 for 31 and White went 4 for 15.

Forty-three players took their cuts at the plate during the month of April. All in all, 296 hits were scattered around Tucson Udall Park. Runs-scored for the month, 155, and the players knocked in the same with 155 RBI.

Way to go, TOTS!